Good Times

These boys keep me on my toes all the time! They're always into something...

Matt was in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam last week for meetings and brought back some fun hats for us. Ben immediately had to check out the entertaining accessory. He's not as obsessed about wearing things these days which is nice because we can leave the house without beads, a hat, and sunglasses most days. Instead he has a brown gift bag with keys and a phone that he carries everywhere like a purse. sigh. It's been very traumatic the past two days because we can't find his phone (my old one from the US) and he won't accept any substitutions.

Alex is just the chowhound, as usual. He's a little tank and needs fuel constantly! He got a great report at his 9 month checkup yesterday:
10.1kg (22lbs 4oz) - 75th percentile
74 cm long (29 inches) - 75th percentile
head circumference 47cm (18.5 inches) - 98th percentile!
The good news at this checkup is that everything grew at the same rate over the last 3 months so the doctor saw no further reason for concern over the big head.

More brother time...only on this day Ben wanted to sit in Alex's chair and wanted Alex to sit in his chair. It lasted just long enough to get a picture and then Ben wanted his chair back! We're definitely going to have to get a second chair.

I also thought it was really cute that Ben wanted to put his kitchen inside the playpen so he and Alex could play together. Once Alex started ripping everything out of it Ben had second thoughts.

Matt, Ben, and I toured Changi Prison Museum over the weekend. Singapore was invaded and occupied by the Japanese during WWII and Changi prison was used as a POW camp for thousands of people from Singapore and surrounding countries. We found it even more interesting because we've been to the POW museum in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, where many of the POWs from Changi were forced to build the railroad to Burma and thousands died. It was pretty heartbreaking to read some of the stories and think of the atrocities that people endured but also inspirational to see how some people clung to hope and to God during their imprisonment. This is a replica of the chapel that some of the men built and the colorful garland hanging inside is actually thousands of origami cranes made by present day Japanese wishing their best to the former inmates.

The walls of another chapel were preserved because of their beautiful murals. One British man did them with paint and billiard chalk and actually came back to Singapore 30 years later to restore them in the museum. Overall it was an interesting museum but I didn't feel like I learned a thorough history of the time. I guess I'll have to do a little reading on my own to fill in the blanks.

The biggest event of the week just happened today. Alex started moving forward! I'm so ready for him to crawl because he's just dying to get moving on his own. As soon as he can coordinate those legs I think he'll be unstoppable.